Intentions to Marry, 1888

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840400, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Alexandra at Archives NZ Wellington, May 14 2025

Page 309

District of Dunedin Quarter ending 31 March 1888 Registrar A. M. Ure

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

20 February 1888

Jens Peter Christensen
Isabella Richardson

Jens Peter Christensen
Isabella Richardson
💍 1888/892

Bachelor
Spinster

Confectioner

21 years
20 years

Ravensbourne
Ravensbourne

12 years
5 years

In Knox Church

88/715

Isabella Dawson, mother of minor

20 February 1888

Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

No	57
Date of Notice	20 February 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Jens Peter Christensen	Isabella Richardson
	💍 1888/892
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Confectioner
Age	21 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Ravensbourne	Ravensbourne
Length of Residence	12 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In Knox Church
Folio	88/715
Consent	Isabella Dawson, mother of minor
Date of Certificate	20 February 1888
Officiating Minister	Revd Dr Stuart, Presbyterian Minister

20 February 1888

Frank Paris
Ada Longley

Frank Paris
Ada Longley
💍 1888/846

Bachelor
Spinster

Confectioner

23 years
20 years

Caversham
Mornington

13 years
10 years

In the house of Robert Longley

88/690

Robert Longley, father of minor

20 February 1888

Revd S. J. Garlick, Wesleyan Minister

No	58
Date of Notice	20 February 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Paris	Ada Longley
	💍 1888/846
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Confectioner
Age	23 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Caversham	Mornington
Length of Residence	13 years	10 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Robert Longley
Folio	88/690
Consent	Robert Longley, father of minor
Date of Certificate	20 February 1888
Officiating Minister	Revd S. J. Garlick, Wesleyan Minister

20 February 1888

George Schluter
Robina Donaldson

George Schluter
Robina Donaldson
💍 1888/908

Bachelor
Spinster

Blacksmith

31 years
22 years

Dunedin
Dunedin

3 years
5 years

In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages

88/754

20 February 1888

A. R. Ure, Registrar of Marriages

No	59
Date of Notice	20 February 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Schluter	Robina Donaldson
	💍 1888/908
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blacksmith
Age	31 years	22 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 years	5 years
Marriage Place	In the Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	88/754
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1888
Officiating Minister	A. R. Ure, Registrar of Marriages

20 February 1888

Gladstone Robinson
Eva Louisa Bathgate

Gladstone Robinson
Eva Louisa Bathgate
💍 1888/913

Bachelor
Spinster

Sheep Farmer

27 years
21 years

Dunedin
Mornington

3 days
21 years

In the Congregational Church

88/736

20 February 1888

Revd J. E. Kelly, Congregational Minister

No	60
Date of Notice	20 February 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Gladstone Robinson	Eva Louisa Bathgate
	💍 1888/913
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Sheep Farmer
Age	27 years	21 years
Dwelling Place	Dunedin	Mornington
Length of Residence	3 days	21 years
Marriage Place	In the Congregational Church
Folio	88/736
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1888
Officiating Minister	Revd J. E. Kelly, Congregational Minister

20 February 1888

Alexander Gordon Grant
Christina Margaret Morrison

Alexander Gordon Grant
Christina Margaret Morrison
💍 1888/116

Bachelor
Spinster

Torpedo man

35 years
23 years

St. Kilda
St. Kilda

4 months
4 months

In St. Peters Church

88/882

20 February 1888

Revd F. E. Watson, Church of England Minister

No	61
Date of Notice	20 February 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Alexander Gordon Grant	Christina Margaret Morrison
	💍 1888/116
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Torpedo man
Age	35 years	23 years
Dwelling Place	St. Kilda	St. Kilda
Length of Residence	4 months	4 months
Marriage Place	In St. Peters Church
Folio	88/882
Consent
Date of Certificate	20 February 1888
Officiating Minister	Revd F. E. Watson, Church of England Minister

20 February 1888

James Kane
Annie McKinnon

James Kane
Annie McKinnon
💍 1888/801

Bachelor
Spinster

Carpenter

24 years
20 years

Green Island
Green Island

13 years
11 years

In the house of Mrs Mary McKinnon

88/645

Mary McKinnon, mother of Minor

20 February 1888

Revd M. Watt, Presbyterian Minister

No	62
Date of Notice	20 February 1888
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Kane	Annie McKinnon
	💍 1888/801
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Carpenter
Age	24 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Green Island	Green Island
Length of Residence	13 years	11 years
Marriage Place	In the house of Mrs Mary McKinnon
Folio	88/645
Consent	Mary McKinnon, mother of Minor
Date of Certificate	20 February 1888
Officiating Minister	Revd M. Watt, Presbyterian Minister

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1903. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).